Apparatus and method for manufacture of carpets



J. SABBE Se t. 26, 1967 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed March 1, 1965 FIG.| (PRIOR ART) FIG.2

Sept. 26, 1967 J. SABBE 3,343,570

APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURE OF CARPETS Filed March 1, l965 2SheetsSheet 2 FIG. 301

IO 9 FIG. 3b H 20 IO a "II:EEEEEI|| IJ FIG. 3c 9 20 I9 g Z-EIIIIIIIt]FIG. 34 g H 7;"---=== MEANS FOR OPERATING RISE AND FALL BOX INVENTOR BYJAN SABBE ATTORNEY.

United States Patent 3,343,570 APPARATUS AND METHOD FOR MANUFACTURE OFCARPETS Jan Sabbe, Courtrai, Belgium, assignor to Societe LihrexAnstalt, Vaduz, Liechtenstein, a corporation of Liechtenstein Filed Mar.1, 1965, Ser. No. 435,994 Claims priority, application France, Mar. 4,1964, 18,365 6 Claims. (Cl. 139-21) The present invention relates to theproduction of carpet fabrics and is particularly concerned with a methodof producing a selvedge on pile-fabrics carpets woven face to face on aloom with a shuttle or on a shuttleless loom and with a carpet havingselvedges produced by the new method.

In the normal manufacture of carpets face to face on a loom with ashuttle the latter reciprocates in one face component and then in theother component. The same weft thread passes thus from one component tothe other at the edge of the carpet. When the two fabric components arebeing separated, this thread is cut and the selvedges possessing twofree yarns must be bonded or fixed in some way. In contrast the opposedselvedge of each carpet is smooth and free from yarn ends. The sameapplies to carpets manufactured face to face on shuttleless loomfunctioning like a loom with a shuttle.

It is one object of the present invention to provide an apparatus forthe manufacture of carpets, which avoids the loose yarns at one of theselvedges and forms this selvedge such, that each selvedge of the carpetis smooth and free from yarn ends.

It is another object of the present invention to provide an apparatusfor the manufacture of carpets, wherein a shuttle or a source of yarn isprovided for each component fabric, each of the shuttles or each of thetwo yarns effecting its movement in turn by appropriate means.

The control means for the shuttles may be constituted for example by aturret box or a rise and fall box with two compartments, to bring eachcompartment in turn to a position to throw its shuttle.

In the looms without shuttle, the means which feed each of the two weftyarns into the shed are arranged to lay in turn two picks of each yarn.

With these and other objects in view which will become apparent in thefollowing detailed description, the present invention will be clearlyunderstood in connection with the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. 1 is a diagrammatic illustration of the course of the yarn from theshuttle or from a yarn source in the conventional process;

FIG. 2 is a diagrammatic illustration of the course of the yarn from twoshuttles or from two yarn sources in the process according to thepresent invention;

FIGS. 3a, 3b, 3c and 3d are diagrammatic illustrations showing thesuccession of movements of the shuttles for weaving the two fabrics ofFIG. 2; and

FIG. 4 is a fragmentary enlarged vertical schematic section of thepicker shuttle and the rise and fall box for the two shuttles of FIG.3a.

Referring now to the drawing, in the manufacture of carpets face to faceon a shuttle loom of the prior art (FIG. 1), the shuttle forms a pick 1in the upper fabric component and then a pick 2 in this upper component.The picks 1 and 2 are interwoven with the warp yarns 3 of the uppercomponent. After the pick 2 a shuttle 4 is brought to the level of thelower component, where at the outward throw it forms a pick 5 and at theinward movement a pick 6 is interwoven with the warp yarns 7, of thelower component. The weft yarns 1 and 2 of the upper component are thusconnected to the weft yarns 5 and 6 of the "ice lower component on oneside only of the two components by a strand 8 which is cut when the twocomponents are separated. Because of this cut, the selvedge of the twocomponents is in danger of fraying on one side and in order to preventthis, it must be fixed by a special seam.

The present invention aims at avoiding this disadvantage by producingtwo identical selvedges on each side of the two pieces.

Referring now again to the drawings, and in particular to FIGS. 2-4, forthis purpose there is provided a shuttle 9, for the upper component(FIG. 2) and another shuttle 10 for the lower component. Each of theseshuttles 9 and 10 is actuated separately and in turn by the same shuttledriving mechanism or picker 11a as in a loom with one shuttle. However,to this mechanism is connected a turret box or a rise and fall box 17containing the shuttles, so that each one thereof is presented in turnto the picker 11a which actuates the shuttles.

By reason of this device, a weft yarn 11 of the upper componentsurrounds the warp yarns 12 and 13 of each selvedge exactly in the samemanner between each pick. The two selvedges are consequently strictlyidentical.

This is the same for the lower component, where a weft yarn 14 surroundsthe warp yarns 15 and 16 of each selvedge.

In this manner no Weft yarn connects the two pieces and no yarn is cut.Neither selvedge is in danger of fraying and need be fixed or bonded bya special operation.

Referring now again to the drawings, and more particularly to FIGS. 3-4,for the manufacture of the fabric shown in FIG. 2, the shuttles 9 and 10are shown in an upper and lower shuttle box, respectively, of a rise andfall box 17. Next to the rise and fall box 17 is a shuttle driving meansor picker 11a having a conventional picker stick or arm 1115 (FIG. 4)for actuating the picker 11a.

The rise and fall box 17 is vertically movable relative to the picker11a, as indicated by the double edged arrow 25 (FIG. 4), by aconventional means 18 for operating the rise and fall box 17, therebypresenting each shuttle 9 and 10, in turn, to the picker 11a, as may beseen from the sequential positions of the rise and fall box 17 relativeto the picker 11a as illustrated by FIGS. BIZ-3d, re spectively.

In FIG. 3a the rise and fall box 17 is in its uppermost position,thereby positioning the shuttle 10 next to the shuttle driving means orpicker 11a, which shuttle 10 is then thrown through the lower shed(indicated by dashed lines in FIG. 3a), towards the right hand end ofthe lay into a fixed shuttle box 20. By this passage of the shuttle 10one-half of the weave of the weft yarn 14 of the lower fabric componentof FIG. 2 is completed. To complete the lower fabric component, theshuttle 10, now in the shuttle box 20 (FIG. 3b) is thrown back throughthe lower shed by picker 19.

To form the upper fabric component, the rise and fall box 17 is thenmoved downwardly to its lower position (FIG. 30) by the means 18 foroperating the rise and fall box (FIG. 4) so that the shuttle 9 is nowpositioned next to the shuttle driving means 11a. The shuttle 9 is thenthrown through the upper shed (indicated by the dashed lines in FIG. 30)to the fixed shuttle box 20 on the right hand side, as shown in FIG. 3d,to complete one-half of the upper fabric component of FIG. 2. The picker19 then throws the shuttle 9 back through the shed toward the uppershuttle box of the rise and fall box 17 to complete the upper fabriccomponent of FIG. 2, and the cycle is then repeated.

The same principle can be adopted in looms without shuttle or in a loomin which the shuttle has been replaced by a device which feeds the weftyarn into the shed. In this kind of loom there is a source for a weftyarn and 3 for weaving face to face, the weft yarn passes also from onecomponent to the other, having the same course as indicated in FIG. 1.

In order to obtain selvedges of the present invention, with loomswithout a shuttle, it is necessary to provide two courses for weftyarns, one for each component. In the course of weaving two picks arelaid in the upper component from the first source of weft yarn, then twopicks are laid in the lower component from the second source of weftyarns.

The control mechanism for the two shuttles 9 and 10 or for the yarns inlooms without shuttles has not been illustrated in detail because anyperson skilled in the art would readily be able to adapt devices knownin the weaving art for performing the required function and such controlmechanism is not part of the present invention.

While I have disclosed one embodiment of the present invention, it is tobe understood that this embodiment is given by example only and not in alimiting sense, the scope of the present invention being determined bythe objects and the claims.

What I claim is:

1. A method of producing pile fabrics face-to-face having an uppercomponent and a lower component and a shuttle for each of saidcomponents in a two-shuttle loom, comprising the steps of throwing eachof said two shuttles separately and alternately in a shed to surround awarp yarn by a weft yarn in each of said components.

2. An apparatus for producing pile fabrics face-to-face including anupper component and a lower component, comprising a shuttle for each ofsaid components, respectively,

picker means for actuating said shuttles causing each of said shuttlesto perform a reciprocating movement separately from each other, in itscorresponding component, respectively, in order to surround a warp yarnby a weft yarn in each of said components, and means for moving saidshuttles alternately and sequentially with the corresponding component,into position adjacent said picker means so that said picker meanscauses said shuttles to perform said reciprocating movementsequentially.

3. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means for movingsaid shuttles comprises a turret box, in order to put each of thecomponents in a position adjacent said picker means to throw thecorresponding shuttle.

4. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said means for movingsaid shuttles comprises a rise and fall box, in order to put each of thecomponents in a position adjacent said picker means to throw thecorresponding shuttle.

5. The apparatus, as set forth in claim 2, wherein said shuttles foreach of said components guides each of said weft yarns into a shed, and

said shuttles for each of said components each laying two yarn picks.

6. A carpet produced by the method, as set forth in claim 1, comprisingtwo non-fraying, identical selvedges.

References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 324,394 8/1885 Mair et al 139-21549,182 11/1895 Bullock et al. 139-21 1,265,084 5/1918 Hutchins et al.13921 1,524,398 1/1925 Kenney l3921 1,667,306 4/1928 Brooks 139201,943,662 1/1934 Emery et al 13921 2,140,134 12/1938 Kohler et al.139-20 2,152,592 3/1939 Hardiman 13921 2,714,397 8/1955 Morgan 139-212,714,398 8/1955 Morgan 139-21 FOREIGN PATENTS 746,716 3/ 1933 France.

3,518 of 1884 Great Britain. 10,939 of 1894 Great Britain.

MERVIN STEIN, Primary Examiner.

I. KEE CHI, Assistant Examiner.

1. A METHOD OF PRODUCING PILE FABRIC FACE-TO-FACE HAVING AN UPPERCOMPONENT AND A LOWER COMPONENT AND A SHUTTLE FOR EACH OF SAIDCOMPONENTS IN A TWO-SHUTTLE LOOM, COMPRISING THE STEPS OF THROWING EACHOF SAID TWO SHUTTLES SEPARATELY AND ALTERNATELY IN A SHED TO SURROUND AWARP YARN BY A WEFT YARN IN EACH OF SAID COMPONENTS.